Chemist charged with taking cyanide, dumping in storm drain

WARRINGTON, Pa. – A chemist stole potassium cyanide from his workplace to use as pest control at home and poured it down a suburban Philadelphia storm drain when he learned there was an investigation, prosecutors said.

Richard O’Rourke, 60, has been charged with risking a catastrophe, theft, receiving stolen property and recklessly endangering others. He’s accused of taking about a cup of potassium cyanide from the Merck & Co. facility in Montgomery County in December.

Reached at his home on Wednesday morning, O’Rourke said didn’t want to comment. A message seeking comment from his lawyer wasn’t immediately returned.

A co-worker witnessed him pouring potassium cyanide into a beaker and then into a Nalgene water bottle on Dec. 14, then leaving the building, according to a release from District Attorney Kevin Steele. That worker informed authorities, and O’Rourke later dumped the chemical near his Warrington home about 50 miles north of Philadelphia, after learning there was an investigation.

The state Department of Environmental Protection began monitoring the water supply after determining there was a possible threat to drinking water.